Author Archives: afinnega

The Vanderlip Mansion-The Daughter

Nationality: American
Age: 51
Occupation: Owner of a Manufacturing Company
Residence: Palos Verdes, California
Performance Date: 4/22/16
Primary Language: English

In the heart of Palos Verdes, my hometown, lies the oldest house in the city, the Vanderlip mansion. Since I was a child I heard about the Vanderlip Mansion legend of how it was haunted and had ghosts throughout the large estate. The story is that it is haunted by the daughter of Mr. Vanderlip, the former owner of the mansion. Legend has it that Mr. Vanderlip would not let her daughter marry an African-American man and she eventually killed herself because of her father’s maltreatment of her. Apparently Mr. Vanderlip built an insane asylum for his daughter and locker in it. He then proceeded to kill his daughters lover along with the baby that the two had with each other. The daughter is said to roam the halls of the mansion.

 

Info of Informant: My father, the informant, told me of the Vanderlip Mansion when I was a young kid and then refreshed my memory about it when I collected this folklore legend. He grew up in palos verdes and has lived their his entire life so he is well-knowledged about the legend. He lived fairly close to the mansion and told about how his friends used to talk about it when he was younger.

 

 

Rally Caps

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Palos Verdes, California
Performance Date: 4/18/16
Primary Language: English

Me: “So what is the general idea of the rally caps?”

Informant: “Ever since I have played baseball I have known about ‘rally caps.’ Essentially, when playing a baseball game, if a team is down in the later part of the game, it is tradition to wear the baseball caps inside out and/or backwards. I’m not sure exactly why this is but it’s a superstition that is believed from kids all the way up to professional players.”

Me: “Does it matter whether the hat is inside out or backwards or both?”

Informant:”Typically the hats are worn inside out and then if the players want to, they can wear them backwards.”

Me: “Do you have any personal experiences with the rally caps actually working?”

Informant: “Yeah actually when I was a Freshman in high school, we were down by three runs in the bottom of the 7th inning, which is the last inning in high school baseball. We were the last ones at bat because we were playing at home. Realistically, we didn’t think we were going to win but some of us just put our hats on inside out to see if somehow the rally cap could trigger a win. Ironically enough, the first pitch of the inning we hit a home run. From that point on we knew it had to be the rally caps, haha. The next batter grounded out but then the next two batters got hits. Eventually we scored in the runs and won the game. Because we put the rally caps on from the start, our superstition was confirmed.. Well at least for the time being.”

Me:”Do you know where you first heard about the rally caps from?”

Informant:”Honestly I have no idea. It was just one of those things that you know growing up as a baseball player.”

Analysis: Like many other superstitions, this form of Folklore was a superstition that involved an item used within the particular sport. The roots of this lore are unknown but continue to be widely used in all levels of baseball. One can see players with stacks of inside-out caps on their heads during the latter parts of baseball games.

Information of the Informant: The informant is my brother who played baseball up until he was seventeen years old. He is an avid baseball watcher and could essentially state every stat from every player in the MLB.

The Unspoken Words of Pitcher Perfection

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: student
Residence: palos verdes
Performance Date: 4/21/16
Primary Language: English

It is well known knowledge throughout the MLB (Major League of Baseball) or any division of baseball that if a pitcher is throwing a perfect game or no-hitter, that no fan, player, announcer, or anyone involved in the game utter the phrases “perfect game” or “no-hitter.” This widely known superstition throughout baseball is an unwritten law that it is said to jinx the pitcher of successfully completing a no-hitter or perfect game. (For those who don’t know what these two things are, a no-hitter is when the pitcher allows not one hit throughout the game. A perfect game is where no player from the opposing team reaches base on any form such as a walk, hit, hit-by-pitch, etc.) Instead, many times when a pitcher is in the middle of one of these two actions, many fans simply state that the pitcher “hasn’t allowed anyone on base.”

Information of the Informant: The informant is my brother who played baseball up until he was seventeen years old. He is an avid baseball watcher and could essentially state every stat from every player in the MLB. Anytime there someone is throwing a perfect game or no-hitter, he is the first to address that the two phrases should not be said. Such was the case last year when the Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitcher Clayton Kershaw threw a no-hitter.

Analysis: This baseball superstition shares similarities to lots of other superstitions that deal with the “jinx.” By simply muttering the phrases “no hitter” or “perfect game,” the actual perfection by the pitcher won’t happen. Unlike other superstitions like spilling salt, there is no known way to counter the baseball jinx.

Michael Finnegan

Nationality: American
Age: 51
Occupation: Owner of a Manufacturing company
Residence: palos verdes
Performance Date: 4/19/16
Primary Language: English

“There once was a man named Michael Finnegan,

He had whiskers on his chin-egan,

they grew off and then grew in-egan

ooh poor Michael Finnegan begin-egan”

Description of Informant: My father, the informant, comes from a very catholic, Irish background. My grandfather, his dad, grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts as the son of two Irish immigrants. Many of the traditions that my grandfather learned as a kid were based on to my father through tradition and thus, were practiced in my family.

Analysis: This song is a form of Folk Music that has been sung in my family since I was born. The song sings a tale about a man named Michael Finnegan who lost his whiskers, or his man-hood, but then regained it and was pitied by the singer. My last name is Finnegan and thus, was often sung in my house. In fact, there was even a big black platter that hung in my house for a very long time with the song on it. Additionally, I have a cousin named Michael Finnegan so the song pertained to my immediate family very much.

St. Patricks Day-Potato in Shoe

Nationality: American
Age: 51
Occupation: Owner of Manufacturing Company
Residence: palos verdes
Performance Date: 4/18/16
Primary Language: English

It’s been a holiday tradition in family ever since I can remember that on St. Patrick’s day, all the kids in my family would place their shoes at the bottom of the staircase in our house with a potato in it. We did this in the hopes that the Leprechaun would come to our home and place money in our shoes because he was grateful for the potatoes we gave him. This tradition was carried up until the age of 9 when we understood that it was simply our parents who placed the money in the shoe.

 

Description of Informant: My father, the informant, comes from a very catholic, Irish background. My grandfather, his dad, grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts as the son of two Irish immigrants. Many of the traditions that my grandfather learned as a kid were based on to my father through holiday tradition and thus, were practiced in my family.

Analysis: My analysis of this tradition has to do mainly with the fact that this tradition derives from Irish history. From 1845-1852 Ireland experienced the worst famine in the history of their country where nearly 1 million people died because of failing crops and spreading disease. Due to the fact that the Leprechaun is of Irish descent, it makes sense that a potato serves as a gift to such an Irish figure as the Leprechaun. Therefore, the Leprechaun sees the potato in the shoe on St. Patty’s Day (an Irish holiday) as a symbol of well-being and puts money in the shoes as a response to the potato.